Nissan Micra and Juke

Nissan will have four highly different supermini-sized cars on sale by the end of this year. An all-new Micra and the Nissan Juke mini-crossover, both unveiled today at the Geneva motor show, will join the Note and Cube in the Nissan line-up.

Together they are expected to give Nissan small-car sales totalling more than a million a year by 2013.

While the Note, Cube and Juke are different interpretations of the compact urban car using the same platform, Nissan is introducing all-new underpinnings for the next Micra.

The so-called V platform is designed for light, compact cars that are capable of performing with small, economical engines, while still being spacious, safe and refined.

The Micra is the first of at least three cars off the V platform, tailored for emerging as well as established markets. It will no longer be made at the Sunderland plant but at Chennai, in India. The new Micra will also be made in Thailand and Mexico for Far Eastern and Latin American markets.

Nissan says it was designed for 'the busiest cities on earth' and has been designed with ease of use as much in mind as low ownership costs. The Micra is said to have a best-in-class turning circle of nine metres and outstanding visibility, and it will be available with a number of advanced parking aids.

Power will come from two new three-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol engines, both delivering good performance with low CO2. The normally aspirated unit, available from November, develops 80bhp and emits 115g/km, while the supercharged version to follow six months later has almost 100bhp yet emits just 95g/km with the aid of a stop-start system..

Nissan Juke review

The Nissan Juke
While the Micra moves out of Sunderland, the Juke moves in. The car was also designed in the UK, at Nissan's European design centre in Paddington, London.

It has been styled to look like a small SUV, and there will be four-wheel-drive versions, although these will come from Japan for production cost reasons. The interior is based on the theme of a powerful motorcycle, with a painted metal centre console styled like the fuel tank and instruments that appear to be perched on handlebars.
Power sources are the company's existing 1.5-litre diesel and 1.6-litre petrol engines, but there will also be a brand new 188bhp 1.6 direct-injection turbocharged petrol option. This is the first of a new family of engines Nissan plans to launch, with a 1.2 rumoured to be next in line.

It arrives in the autumn and is expected to cost between 13,000 and 20,000.